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Happy Birthday (Part One)
Savanaclaw Dorm - Birthday Party Venue
NRC School Newspaper A Birthday Interview with Ruggie
| First off, I hope you're having a happy birthday. |
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Hey, thanks! Heh heh heh. I'm a big fan of 'em, myself. Just between you and me, I make it a point to give lots of others presents on their birthday. Not out of any charitable birthday sentiment— at least, not for them. It's more like a charitable sentiment for ME. The more presents I get in return, the better! Pretty much everyone at this school is rich, so whatever they give me's bound to be worth WAY more than whatever I gave them. Last year, I made out with a literal armload of gifts. I can't wait to see what kinda haul I walk off with this year! |
| Do you have any anecdotes from birthdays you've spent with your family?? |
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My family? Well, my mom joined the stars in the sky right after she had me. And my dad went out to scrounge up some money one day and never came back. No idea where he is or what he's doin' now. So I guess the only stories I could share are from birthdays I spent with my grandma. My family struggled just to put food on the table every day, so we couldn't afford any big fancy birthday cakes. Instead, Grandma would make me donuts every year. That was always a highlight. |
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Crispy on the outside, warm and fluffy on the inside, with a simple flavor you can keep coming back to... I'm drooling just thinkin' about 'em. Once I started making a little money from part-time gigs, we were able to afford nicer ingredients. Then she started makin' me fancy gourmet ones topped with almonds and melted chocolate. I can afford a cake for myself now, but I still get a hankering for those donuts every year on my birthday. |
| Your grandmother sounds wonderful. |
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You bet she is! She's real nice, not to mention tough as nails. I couldn't be luckier to have her. |
Happy Birthday (Part Two)
Savanaclaw Dorm - Birthday Party Venue
| What's your favorite food? |
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Uh, hel-LO! I just got finished talkin' about how much I love donuts. Definitely those. But to be fair, I'd gladly eat anything that's not rotten. Like, I'll take a leftover meat bone offa someone's plate. What? You think I'm joking? Us hyenas have strong jaws. We can bite through a lot more than meat, y'know. We can even break large bones with our teeth. If you don't believe me, take me out for, I dunno, chicken wings sometime. I'll eat every bone on the plate! |
| I'll see if I have the thaumarks for that... Moving on, when it comes to material possessions, what do you hold close to your heart? |
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Money! |
| Anything...else? |
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Uhhh, lemme think… Oh, I guess my warthog bank would count. I found it lyin' abandoned on the ground outside some rich people's house. I took it to a pawn shop to see if I could get anything for it, but no dice. Figured I might as well keep it. When you put coins in its open mouth, it gulps them down and lets out a happy squeal or sings a ditty. It was like the warthog was happy for me when I managed to save money. I got kinda attached to the little guy after a while. There's a meerkat version in the same toy line, actually. I've been thinkin' of getting it so my warthog'll have a buddy. |
Happy Birthday (Part Three)
Savanaclaw Dorm - Birthday Party Venue
| What are your thoughts on your dorm leader? |
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You mean Leona? Well… You can definitely tell he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He's used to orderin' people around. He's a demanding boss, but he still makes it worth my while to put in the work. |
| How so? |
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First off, there're monetary benefits. Leona gives away stuff he doesn't want anymore, and that's a GOLD MINE for me. Anything I can use, I keep. And anything I can't, I sell—ah, DONATE, to someone who can. Then there're the educational benefits. In return for my labor, Leona tutors me on lessons I didn't totally understand in class. Back before I enrolled in Night Raven College, the only "education" I had was in practical life skills. |
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I didn't know the first thing about academics or studying at first. My grades were in the dumpster. But Leona hooked me up with reference books and old exams. He gave me tons of useful advice. Now my grades are a solid "middling"! I dunno about you, but I think workin' your way up from the bottom of the ladder to somewhere just below the middle is a pretty huge deal. The moral of this story is to stick close to the biggest fish in the pond, and figure out how to make it benefit ya personally. |
| I-I see. One last question: how do you like to spend school vacations? |
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Hm... Aside from visiting my grandma, I work pretty much nonstop. Typically at a job with included room and board. In summer, maybe I work at a restaurant at a beach resort; in the winter, I hit the slopes to work as a ski instructor or something. You meet all kindsa people that way, staff and customers both. Great way to network. Thanks to that, I can say hello and goodbye and haggle prices in like ten different languages. Plus, sometimes I get to meet big-time celebrity mages on the job. Yet another fringe benefit! |
| This was an enlightening interview. Thank you for your time. And happy birthday again! |
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